Newly employed and now pregnant

Hello TT, I've been taking a wee peek at your chats over the last couple of days and they are mostly amusing and/or helpful so I wonder if you can help me. I moved to Germany to be with my lovely German boyfriend in July, finally got myself a really crap job which I started on the 1st December and am now in the early stages of pregnancy! Not the best timing i grant you! My question is this i have only paid into the krankenkasse once (havent been paid for January yet) and my wages are meager, am i totally screwed or what? i.e. will i have to pay shed loads of cash to doctors or will i be covered by the krankenkasse even though i only joined in December? Also i despise this job more than any other crappy job i have ever had, obviously the chances of me securing another job are slim but if i was to quit this job what would then happen with my krankenkasse? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Firstly, congratulations!

Have a look at these threads, maybe they could help?

When to inform an employer of your pregancy
Pregnancy and motherhood forums
Maternity Benefits in Germany

If you really are in an algemeine Krankenkasse where all the sign-up formalities have been completed and not a private insurance then you should not have any problems. You are clearly not their ideal customer, but they can't throw you out and they should (must) pay for your pregancy/health costs. As you are clearly still in probation with your new company they could throw you out at any time, latest at the end of the probationary period. You'll likely qualify for decent money from Elterngeld when the baby arrives, however.

Thanks for the links and advice, very helpful. I'm not bothered about the maternity benefits, if Germany is like Britain and benefits are means tested we wont be entitled to any anyway but i am concerned about paying privately to see Dr's, midwife's etc, I really dont want to be a very expensive weight round my poor boys neck!

not entirely correct, YL6 (unusual for you). Once you have informed your employer you are protected from being sacked, EVEN if you are still in your probation time. If you don't wish to be fired, inform your bosses in writing as soon as possible. If you plan to look for a new job, be mindful that the chances of finding a decent one are very slim if you inform them up front about your pregnancy. My views on being deceitful and lying to them can be read on the other thread so I won't go into that again.

As I understand it, they are not means tested. In fact, if you earn more you are entitled to even more money. I don't know how your current situation as a new arrival will affect this though.

Noble sentiments, I guess, but isn't it his baby, too?

Let me just qualify this then. Many (one might say clever employers) employers negotiate two contracts, one for the probation period, the other for the new job, once the probation period has ended and mutual suitability is agreed. A major reason for this is that it is even easier to kick someone out if their contract has simply expired after, say 6 months. In German this is known as "endbefristete Probearbeitsverhältnisse". If this is the contract in force then there is no employment protection due to pregnancy, as the probation contract is a contract in it's own right, and is not related to any extension.